Office of the Historian

740.00119 Potsdam/7–2945

No. 885
United States Delegation Working Paper1
[Babelsberg,] July 29, 1945.

Memorandum for Mr. Clayton

Summary on German Economic and Related Matters

General Understanding—There will have to be one or more basic memoranda on boundaries; “zonal” handling of reparations, and supply.

Economic Principles—There is already agreement on principles 10–17.2 Further action:3

a.
Delete Principle No. 18.
b.
In view of the decision in fact to give up quadrilateral action on reparations operations and on programming, procuring and financing of imports, the last sentence of paragraph 14 (d), already tentatively agreed by the Foreign Ministers, should be amended to read as follows: “except where determined by the occupying power concerned to be required for the payment for necessary imports, no grant or credit to Germany or Germans by any foreign persons or governments shall be permitted”. If agreement cannot be reached with the Russians on this amendment, we should insist on the deletion of the entire sentence.
c.
A minor improvement would be effected in the document by the following two amendments to paragraph 13:
  • “(e) Currency and banking, central taxation and customs;”
  • “(g) Transportation and Communications”

Reparations—Mr. Pauley’s memo of July 24.4

Restitution—Our memo of July 235—section d.

[Page 824]

U. S. Property—Our two mimeographed memos: Germany and satellites.6

German External Assets—Proposed statement re vesting of such assets,7 and proposed directive to General Clay re negotiations [sic] of a vesting decree.8

Satellite Assets in Neutral Countries—Memo to Molotov.9

Art Objects—Proposed directive to General Clay10 generally approving his proposal.11

  1. Authorship not indicated.↩
  2. Of the attachment to document No. 863.↩
  3. Cf. document No. 878 and the Editor’s Note to document No. 882.↩
  4. Presumably document No. 925.↩
  5. document No. 916.↩
  6. Documents Nos. 926 and 842, respectively.↩
  7. See the attachment to document No. 988.↩
  8. See document No. 998.↩
  9. document No. 846.↩
  10. See the enclosure to document No. 964.↩
  11. Subattachment to document No. 964.↩